Daters often ask me if I would do a background check on the significant (or not so significant) other. This is especially popular for the brave souls who venture the online dating world. The conversation usually begins with one of the following:
“I met this person online and I want to make sure he/she is legit…”
“I signed up for an online dating service and the person I’ve been speaking to says he/she needs money…”
“My recent date says he has a PhD from Bermuda University, but can’t find a job…”
“I Googled the person, but can’t find anything about this person or anyone with his/her name….”
Then, the next thing the person asks is, “Can you do a background check on my date?”
The answer is definitely yes. However, there IS a catch! We can only do a background check on people who sign a disclosure form allowing the background check. Therefore, either you or we contact the person asking for signature. I’m not sure if that kills the mood on the next date or not, but it is definitely something to consider. Ask yourself, “would I rather be a little embarrassed by asking this person to go through a background check or would I rather potentially lose money, be deceived, plus lose time and energy on someone whom I wouldn’t normally date if I knew the truth.”
It’s up to you. Be smart. Be safe. Educate yourself. There’s a huge catfish industry (billions of dollars’ worth) focused on daters. The deception includes faking a name, personal history, pictures (they steal from other profiles) and job status. It’s such a big industry, there’s actually a show about it!
Contract issues with background checks
About once a month, I get a call from a company saying they are required to run certain background checks for a contract they recently
